the american dream
by haveyounomercy
Summary: [human AU] Somehow, at the end of the day, Natalia and Elizaveta are happy to have each other. A multichapter fic about friendship, love, family, and lots of other stuff. Hints of PruHun scattered around, Natalia/Many for the time being.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n:** originally started for nanowrimo, this fic is my first huge multichapter baby and it's still uncompleted. uh, enjoy?

1.

She woke up with flowers on the pillow beside her and a waffle house coupon tucked uncomfortably in the waistband of her pyjama bottoms.

It was morning, the downstairs neighbours were blasting old rock and roll, and she had a splitting headache.

Natalia blinked. It was the premise of all bad movies: a convenient lapse of memory about the past night's events and a chance that she suddenly had an unknown lover. Unlike the movies, however, Natalia Alfroskaya did not freak out; she merely set the flowers and the coupon down on her dresser and went right back to sleep.

She dreamed of sunflowers and trees made out of glass. It was all very pleasant.

-

"So how was your day yesterday?" Elizaveta asked her over the breakfast table. This was a common enough occurrence, since Elizaveta was very into questions even though Natalia was not so keen on answers.

They lived first as friends and second as roommates. Elizaveta was studying mechanics at the same university Natalia went to, and she worked part time in a dimly lit café that had been planning on expanding for years but never found the right opportunity to. Natalia studied architecture because she liked the sound of it, when in actual fact she had wanted to go into math but checked off the wrong box by mistake. Elizaveta told her that she should change faculties, but Natalia refused on the base that it didn't matter what she studied; in two years she would go back to Russia and marry her fiancée and all would be well.

Thinking about all of this, Natalia shifted in her seat until she was comfortable. The old wooden chairs they used were small: just like everything else in their apartment. "Were you not here?" She asked, rubbing at her eyes. Elizaveta came and went like the wind, one day she would be there and the next she would phone from all the way downtown saying that she was staying at her boyfriend's for the night. Natalia never spent more than nine hours away from her room.

"I told you I was staying over at Gilbert's." This was said as Elizaveta passed the cereal box, nearly knocking over the milk carton.

"Did you? I don't remember." Natalia wrinkled her nose at the cereal. Elizaveta had bought something multigrain again, which was not only severely unattractive but also very bland. "I don't remember anything from last night. I have a headache."

Elizaveta frowned. "Maybe you got drunk."

Natalia tried to remember. "Maybe." She looked down at her empty bowl. "I'm not hungry."

They both paused as the downstairs neighbours cranked the music up even higher. Sighing, Elizaveta got up from her seat and jumped up and down until the Beatles were lowered to a less annoying volume. After she sat back down, she ate a spoonful of brown cheerio's. Natalia watched in disgust. "You must have done some cleaning though. All the bookcases have been dusted."

Natalia avoided watching her roommate eat, focusing on the other girl's long brown curls instead. "Maybe I brought in a maid?" Natalia mused as she pushed her bowl away. "That would explain the flowers."

Elizaveta raised her eyebrow. "You got flowers from someone?"

"And a waffle house coupon."

"That's so romantic!" In an instant, hands reached across the table to grab hers. "Natalia, that's wonderful! I've always wanted to have a drunken one night stand, you know. Do you have any clue as to who he'd be?" She paused, frowning. "Come to think of it, Gilbert never gives me flowers, even after sex."

Natalia ran a hand through her tangled hair, noticing that it had been washed. "That's because Gilbert is a cheapskate."

Opening her mouth to object, Elizaveta stopped to think about it. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But still, Natalia, back to more important things! This could be your destined one!"

"My destined one is back in Russia," Natalia replied calmly. She didn't understand why she had to explain it again; she had told the other girl plenty of times already. "His name is-"

"I know his name." Elizaveta interrupted irritably. "You've told me like five billion times already." Natalia took offence to this, surely she had not mentioned it five _billion_ times. Perhaps only a hundred times, give or take a few. "And he's not your destined one, he's the one that was picked out for you by your parents." Their hands still clasped together tightly, Elizaveta grinned. "Don't you want to have someone that makes your heart flutter, that makes your life worth living?"

Natalia sighed, Elizaveta's hands were getting clammy. "I do have someone like that. It is my brother."

"He doesn't count," Elizaveta groaned. "Don't you want to meet your Mr. Right, Natalia?"

"Is Gilbert your Mr. Right?" Natalia asked, unimpressed with the conversation. Elizaveta said a lot of crap for a person who was dating a college dropout who thought he was from a made up country.

Elizaveta finally let go of Natalia's hands, frowning. "I don't know. It's too early to tell."

Natalia looked out the window, wiping her hands on her pyjamas. The city looked back out at her, cars whizzing and pigeons pooping and everyone not caring about anyone else. She was in the city of Las Vegas and she was engaged to someone she didn't even know. Well, she knew his name and face. She knew his favourite colour and lucky number and that he didn't like pickles, but she didn't _know_ him.

She wondered what she was doing with her life. She had come to America eight years ago as an awkward freshman that wanted to find her brother, but she had also wanted opportunities, adventure, _fun_.

Had she gotten any of it? She thought about the homework piling up on her desk and frowned deeper.

Elizaveta kicked her lightly under the table. "Where are you right now?" The brown-haired girl asked, her tone teasing.

Natalia looked back outside the window, not retaliating the kick. "I am on the line in between depression and apathy; somewhere distant and far away from the likes of you."

"Is that so?" Elizaveta pursed her lips, also looking out the window their breakfast table sat next to. Three floors down, people's heads moved through the crowds in an endless sea of worries and troubles. "Well, then. Do you want to find the person you were with last night?"

"No, I'm not curious. Today I am only going to order Chinese takeout and watch television until I remember the project I have to complete by Wednesday. Then, I will call my brother and leave a message on his answering machine." Natalia switched her view back to the pale yellow walls of their apartment.

Elizaveta clicked her tongue. "Maybe he changed his number again," she suggested. "And what are you going to do after that?"

"Maybe." Natalia agreed. She paused to think about her next answer. "After that, I will bake a cake. It will be chocolate flavoured and in the shape of my dying heart."

"Very poetic," Elizaveta said in approval. "But you don't know how to bake."

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "But you do."

Staring at her for a second, Elizaveta blinked. And then she laughed. "I actually have a date tonight, but that can wait. I'm sure Gilbert would be happy to be put aside for you."

"I like you more than I like waffles." Natalia replied, the smallest of smiles on her lips.

Elizaveta tilted her head as she smiled back. "And how much do you like waffles?"

"Quite a bit."

They looked at each other, feeling a sense of friendship (and perhaps if they had been slightly younger and more foolish, they would've kissed).

-

"Do you ever think that sometimes, you might be going down the wrong way of life?" Elizaveta asked this question as she measured out flour into old measuring cups that they had found somewhere between the meat cleaver and cheese grater.

Natalia hummed as she sat in her chair, watching television. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone makes choices. Do you ever wonder if those choices were right?"

She turned around in her seat to grab the back of her chair and wrap her legs around the frame. "Yes, sometimes. But then I stop wondering, because I know I'm on the right path."

Elizaveta laughed, pouring the flour into one of the many multicoloured bowls that Natalia hadn't bothered to keep track of. "How do you know you're on the right path?"

Natalia shrugged, her glasses falling down her nose, "Because my family told me to go down this path, so that's where I'll go."

"Do you really love your family that much?" Elizaveta brushed a stray hair out of her face, leaving a mark of flour on her cheek. "Aside from Ivan, of course. I'm talking about your parents."

Natalia shrugged again, this time pushing her horribly expensive glasses back into place. "Not particularly, but they are the ones that brought me into this world, and so I must respect them."

Elizaveta laughed just as the oven beeped. "I find it strange that your country is so much more different than ours. In America, all the children run free of their parents, and hate to do what they say."

"Oh, I don't _like_ doing what they say."

"Yes, but you do it nevertheless."

"Don't you do it too?" Innocently, Natalia set her chin down on the top of the chair's back, looking up through her black frames at her roommate.

Elizaveta snorted, thinking of the last time her mother had told her to do something. She didn't even remember. "Not as much as you."

Natalia tilted, her head, "But you do your laundry when your mother tells you to."

"I suppose you're right, but that's not the same thing. You're looking at this differently than I am." Silence was kept for a while as Elizaveta turned on the electric mixer. There were times when Natalia suspected the other girl used to live in a kitchen appliance store, since she had so many baking accessories and not much of anything else.

When the electric mixer finally died down, Natalia continued, "I'm just using common sense."

Elizaveta snorted again, "Are you saying that I don't have common sense?"

"No, I'm just saying that you are very free in your thinking." Feeling like she made a lot of sense, Natalia lifted her chin and nodded.

Shaking her head, Elizaveta got out the cake pan. "I don't get it. Have you been drinking today?"

Natalia looked to the side at all the beer cans on the windowsill. It was like a game, every day new ones would appear and old ones were taken away in secret. They knew someone had drunk, yet they didn't know how many were from the previous days and how many had been drunk the same day. Or perhaps they just didn't want to know. "Not nearly as much as you."

"How did you know I was drinking?" Winking, Elizaveta poured the batter into the pan with ease. Natalia remembered when she had once tried to do that; it had been neither easy nor beautiful. That was one of the reasons why she had not been allowed to take part in the cake-making, even though it had been her idea.

"Because red wine is stained on your lips." This was a lie, because they had not drunk red wine at all. They only drank red wine after nine when they wanted to feel classy and ran out of space on the windowsill forbeer cans. (They drank champagne the night before a test and whenever they felt like it, which was rare because none of them liked champagne anyway.)

"That's called lipstick, Natalia."

Natalia got out of her chair and walked into the kitchen, leaning against the fridge. "Really? It looks like red wine to me."

Elizaveta checked her reflection in the mirror above the sink. "It looks like blood to me."

"You have blood on your lips? You just said that it was lipstick." Opening the oven, Natalia basked in the warmth before Elizaveta stuck the pan in and closed it, nearly taking Natalia's fingers with it.

Laughing, Elizaveta began to wash her hands. "It could be blood, it could be lipstick. How would you know?"

"If you had blood on your lips, whose blood would it be?" It was an honest question.

The brunette grinned. "Maybe Gilbert's. Maybe yours. Maybe mine. I could be a vampire, you know."

Natalia shook her head, remembering the movie commercials she had seen on the television the other day. "I don't get why everyone here in America is so obsessed with vampires. The thought of someone sucking my blood is nauseating."

Patting her on the head lightly, Elizaveta chuckled, "You just don't get romance in general. It's the thrill of it, it's the feeling you get in your heart when you're doing something that's forbidden."

"Why would you do something that's forbidden? It's forbidden for a reason, most likely because it's _dangerous_." Moving away from any future head-pats, Natalia frowned.

Elizaveta watched her move away with a smile. "Why do you intend to go back to Russia and marry someone you don't even know?"

Natalia frowned, "That doesn't have anything to do with this."

"It has everything to do with this." And with that, Elizaveta stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "Oh, and I couldn't find any heart-shaped cake pans so you'll just have to do with a regular circular one."

"Oh," Natalia stopped to think, "Then it'll be in the form of my beautiful eye."

Elizaveta raised an eyebrow. "Eye as in singular?"

"Eye as in my left one," Natalia said as she took off her glasses and put her face forward. "My right one is slightly smaller and definitely not as beautiful."

To her roommate, Natalia's blue eyes were both beautiful. Elizaveta told her this as she blinked her own bright green ones.

Putting her glasses back on, Natalia moved to go back to her chair. "I have not told my fiancée this yet."

"I'm sure he'll find it a pleasant surprise." Elizaveta joked, smiling. Natalia did not smile back.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n:** a shorter chapter this time, showcasing how I can't write Gilbert.

2.

On Sunday mornings Natalia usually awoke to one of two sounds: old rock songs vibrating through her bed frame coming from the neighbours downstairs, or Gilbert. She didn't know why Elizaveta's obnoxious boyfriend was always there on Sunday mornings, but she couldn't say that she liked it.

Perhaps he thought of Elizaveta as his church, Natalia thought groggily as she pulled her gray sheets over her head, closing her eyes and trying to go back to sleep while Gilbert laughed loudly in their living room. Finally after the song downstairs ended, Natalia took the few seconds before the next one to sit up slowly, holding her head in her hands. She scratched the top of her head, stretched upwards, and frowned at the fake hardwood floor beneath her bed.

Eventually she would get used to the temperature of them in the morning, but at this time Natalia made no effort to hide her grimace as she gingerly tip-toed across her room to her dresser, where she grabbed a pair of socks. The socks had actually been a gift from Elizaveta; they were from some sort of wholesale place and were very thick and very comfortable.

Yes, Elizaveta was nice. So why was Gilbert so annoying?

Natalia looked at the mirror she hadn't cleaned in three months. With her messy blond hair running in an incomprehensible pattern past her shoulders and her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nightgown that reached her knees (another gift from Elizaveta-the other girl owned a similar pair of Batman ones), she considered changing and brushing up before breakfast.

She decided not to, just like she did every morning. With hidden annoyance and carefully sculpted blankness, Natalia opened her door and exited the room, now a mere five meters away from Gilbert. She tried not to scowl.

Gilbert looked up at Natalia, grinned, and waved. "It's the roommate! Good morning, brat!"

Natalia walked straight into the kitchen, ignoring his words. She was _not_ a brat. She was just shorter than the both of them, which had nothing to do with her age. They were both just abnormally tall.

"Aw, don't talk much in the mornings, honey?" Gilbert grinned, turning around on the couch. "You know I didn't mean it, especially when you look so dashing in your turtle nightgown."

Natalia glared at him, poured milk into a bowl of ugly multigrain cereal, and thought _you are why I do not date and let my parents choose a suitable, respectable, quiet gentleman for me instead_.

It was at this point that Elizaveta came out from her room, yawning and not caring that she was wearing horizontally striped pyjama bottoms and a vertically striped tank top. Natalia flinched at the sight. For someone who cared so much about how she looked in public, she certainly didn't seem to care much about her sleepwear.

"Gilbert, stop teasing her," she smiled at her boyfriend, walking over to the couch to nestle in with him.

"I'm not teasing her!" Gilbert defended, his smirk saying otherwise. He took her head in for a noogie, which made her squeal and kick him off the couch. Hearing Gilbert's cussing and seeing Elizaveta's poorly matched pyjamas, Natalia closed her eyes and realized that they deserved each other after all.

Sighing, she brought her bowl of cereal to the small table and sat cross-legged there, not touching her breakfast but opting to observe them instead. She always wondered if that was what a 'healthy relationship' looked like. At this point Gilbert had fought his way back onto the couch, and they were both screaming at something on TV and Natalia knew that she would never be like this with her fiancée.

This made her stop and think. Did she want to be like this with her fiancée? Had she not just thought that the two of them were ridiculous?

Natalia finally took a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and frowned while chewing. At least she could admit that she was fickle, she thought. Having mulled this over, she pushed her bowl of cereal towards the other end of the table and took the leftover cake out from the fridge.

"Natalia, what are you doing?"

Holding the remains of the chocolate cake guiltily, Natalia pursed her lips silently at Elizaveta, who was standing next to the TV, hands on her hips. "Eating breakfast," she answered finally. Gilbert cackled.

"That's not a healthy way to start the day!" Elizaveta reprimanded, going over to where Natalia stood. Rolling her eyes, Natalia backed away from the fridge and kept a firm grip on the plate.

"You're not my mother," Natalia said defensively, which seemed to make Gilbert laugh even harder.

"You tell her, Nat!"

Natalia threw him a glare. "I am not 'Nat'."

Elizaveta did the same, except with much less hostility. "Yeah Gil, shut up." She looked back at Natalia, "And of course I'm not, because if I were then you'd have obeyed me immediately, wouldn't you?"

"Is this about last night's talk?" Still holding the plate, Natalia raised an eyebrow. "Because if it is, then I'll need more cake than this to hear you talk about my personal rights again."

This time Elizaveta laughed, reaching out to pat Natalia on the head. "Fine, do what you want. But remember," she leaned in with a wink, "I'm the one who knows the secret about your eye." Laughing again, Elizaveta turned around to go back to Gilbert.

"I hate it when you pat me on the head," Natalia called out towards her retreating back, "And I've told you many times before that I hate it."

"And I've told you many times that grains are important for a healthy, balanced diet!" Elizaveta called back, not bothering to turn around. After settling herself on the couch, she turned to look at Gilbert. "And you. I know I gave you keys and everything," _a day that Natalia very much rued,_ "But why do you come here every Sunday morning?"

Natalia took a bite of cake. "I would like to know too," she added with a full mouth.

"Gross, Nat_alia_," Gilbert frowned, sticking out his tongue. Natalia refrained from reminding him of that time that he had indulged in burping the alphabet. "And it's because I want to go on a date with you, Liz!"

Elizaveta ruffled his hair affectionately, smiling. "Even though you know I have work at the café on Sundays?"

"I can walk you there," Gilbert pointed out with a smirk, "And the other girl there is _really _hot."

As Elizaveta tried to suffocate him with one of the couch cushions, Natalia ate more cake and wondered why she felt embarrassed watching them. To solve this, she turned her back to them, sat down in the middle of the kitchen, and continued to eat her cake.

"Now I want cake too," Gilbert whined after Elizaveta released him.

"Go get Sally to make one for you, then." Huffing, Elizaveta walked towards her room.

Gilbert lifted his head. "Her name's Sally?"

Natalia heard a slam, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. "Ha ha," she muttered under her breath.

"At least I _have_ someone, you big loner." Gilbert shouted from the couch, "And I'm not eating cake by myself on the floor."

Natalia bit her lip. "I have a fiancée back in Russia-"

"Yeah, I know." Gilbert interrupted. Natalia nodded to herself, taking another bite of cake.

"I detest your very presence," she finally said after minutes of silence.

Gilbert laughed, a harsh sound that didn't necessarily carry a harsh meaning. "Join the club, princesss."

If there were such a club, Natalia imagined that there would indeed be a large amount of people in it. Gilbert started laughing at the cartoons again. Natalia closed her eyes and tried to shut out all the noise around her.

Yes, if there were such a club, she would definitely be the president.

With Elizaveta and Gilbert finally out of the house, Natalia hugged her knees to her chest and sighed in the empty living room, wondering what she was supposed to do next. She supposed that she would have to get started on her paper soon, but it was only noon and she didn't have nearly enough patience to get through another four hundred words on a topic that bored her to death.

"One of these days you'll have to switch your courses," she said aloud, resting her chin on the top of her knees. She didn't even remember why she had signed up for architecture in the first place, really.

Oh, right. It was because once she went back to Russia, there wouldn't be any need for her to do anything besides helping her husband run his father's business. She didn't need a degree for that; only patience and meekness.

(Two things that she unfortunately did not have at the current moment.)

Her gaze falling onto the beer can ridden windowsill, she wondered if she should start drinking. At noon? Well, it wasn't totally implausible. She remembered that once in summer Elizaveta drank two cans of beer the moment she woke up. She promptly went back to sleep and did not move again until dinnertime.

Natalia laughed, the sound filling up and echoing inside the apartment. She did not think she was lonely, because if one was lonely then one would want a companion. At that moment, Natalia was very content with sitting in her nightgown all by herself in the silence of a cold afternoon.

She hugged herself tighter, trying to bring some warmth to her body. When she did this, a flash of something passed by through her brain, like a lightning bolt carrying some sort of nostalgic memory. She couldn't remember what exactly happened in that flash of memory, but something told her that it had to do with the waffle house coupon sitting on her bedside dresser.

She weighed her options. On one hand, she could go and explore and find the waffle house, perhaps find out who she had slept with, and then make some sort of conversation with him. Or, she could sit around in her nightgown all day until Elizaveta came home, after which she would write her paper with a glass of orange juice in front of the TV while her roommate shouted Jeopardy answers.

Natalia stood up.

She would do neither, she decided. First she would call her brother (a sure-fire failure, she knew), and then she would go and buy a hot chocolate from the coffee house on West 16th.

But first, she would have to change. After all, Natalia always wore her best clothes when talking to her brother.


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n:** I have a big soft spot for nosy girls, sorry.

3.

When she got no answer on the first call, Natalia straightened the red scarf around her neck and redialled the number calmly. This was normal; her brother never picked up on the first call (or sometimes never, for that matter). She held her phone delicately in her hand as she sat on the couch, counting the rings.

The woman that she had become so accustomed to told her once again that her brother was not there. Natalia sighed.

She didn't know why her brother was so stubborn, really. He had changed after coming to America, that was for sure. Back in Russia when they were children, Ivan had always cared for her and paid attention to her. Somehow after she had come to America to find him though, he had gotten it into his head that she was no longer his sister but _an enemy_.

Natalia could deal with this, though. For her brother that raised her and gave her love, she would do anything.

She called three more times before finally deciding that yes, her brother had probably changed his phone number again. Inconceivable, really. All she wanted to do was talk! Talk about anything, her life or his life or his favourite food or what he did yesterday or _anything_, just to hear his voice.

Perhaps she was lonely.

But she was only lonely when she thought of Ivan.

Natalia hung up on the lady, frowning. She readjusted her scarf again, put on her winter coat, and stuck her phone into her purse. There was no use crying over spilt milk, she supposed. She'd only have to make the best of it, and she was rather thirsty anyway.

She'd track him down tomorrow.

o~

The coffee house on West 16th was Natalia's favourite place of all places. It was named _Dreamsugar_ (the only distasteful thing about it), it played soft jazz on its speakers, it had the best hot chocolate Natalia knew, and (perhaps most importantly) the main barista was not Elizaveta.

Which of course, was not an insult to the Hungarian, but Natalia found that Elizaveta always gave her secret discounts on drinks. This did not only go against Natalia's principles, but it also found Elizaveta in a pickle whenever her manager found out. So, after nearly getting Elizaveta fired twice, Natalia decided that perhaps she would be better off going to somewhere else.

She had found out about _Dreamsugar_ from, and this was the worst part, Gilbert. Apparently he had once worked there as a cashier, and Natalia had been ever so curious as to what kind of place would hire the likes of Gilbert Beilschmidt. Despite the obvious poor hiring skills and equally terrible name, Natalia had found some sort of soothing aspect in the red cushioned booths and dark purple walls.

The girl at the counter smiled at her like she always did when Natalia came in, and Natalia nodded back. "Haven't seen you in a while," the girl chirped as Natalia walked over to the counter.

"University," Natalia mumbled as she took off her jacket and held it in her arms. "And um, I'd like a small hot chocolate." She paused, then added on, "Please."

The girl at the counter laughed. "Only if you remember my name!"

Natalia stared at her. The girl grinned back.

"Your name is Mei," Natalia said slowly. "And you ask me about your name every single time I come here. I wouldn't forget it."

Mei laughed, punching in the order. "But it sounds different when you say it because of your accent, which I love."

"I don't see the charm in someone mispronouncing your name," muttered Natalia. "But thank you."

Mei gave her the receipt, winked, and leaned in. "By the way, I heard you got some on Friday. Good job, girl!"

Natalia opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again with a frown, "Wait, 'got some'? I certainly did not get anything special-" then her brain flashed again, and Natalia remembered her waffle house coupon. "…oh, well maybe I did, I don't quite remem-" Stopping again, her eyes widened. "How do you even know about that?"

"I know about everything that goes around in this city," Mei joked, "No, that's a lie. I just know the guy that took you home."

"And who would that be?" Feeling her cheeks heat up, Natalia frowned deeper. She didn't need details about her love life being told to anyone, especially in her circumstance. If her fiancée got wind of it, no, if her _parents_ got wind of it…

Mei watched gleefully as Natalia began panicking, and she laughed. "Don't worry honey, I'm not going to tell anyone. That guy only told _me_ since I'm his good friend. And well, you'll just have to find him yourself! He left you a clue, didn't he?"

Natalia shook her head, clearing her thoughts. This was no time to start playing some sort of detective game. "I'm sorry, but I have no interest in contacting him again. I don't even remember what he looks like and besides, I have a fiancée back in Russia."

"Are you serious?" Mei's eyes widened comically, and then filled up with glee again. "Oh my god, this is just like a television drama! I can't wait until he finds out that you're already engaged!"

"Have fun telling him that," Natalia rolled her eyes, looking behind her to see if there were any customers. There weren't, much to her disappointment.

Mei wiggled her eyebrows. "Oh, _I_ won't be the one telling him. You will."

Natalia was sure the wrinkles in her forehead were so deep she could wedge sunflower seeds in between them. "I just said that I wasn't going to contact him."

Mei laughed, "Oh, you will. Trust me on that one."

"I'd rather not." Natalia replied, shaking her head. "Now, excuse me. I'll see you another day." Walking over to the counter where her drink sat, she glared purposefully at Mei.

The Taiwanese girl only laughed again, waving. "Go see him!" She mouthed, which only made Natalia turn around and walk into one of the more secluded areas of the café.

"My life is full of nosy idiots," she said softly as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, sighing in happiness. All she needed was to get through a few more years, and then she would go back to Russia, marry her fiancée, and be away from all the crazy people in America. Come to think of it, all the crazy people she knew lived in America.

Maybe it was the water.

Meanwhile, Mei started talking to the new customer about the customer's recent foot surgery. "I always get my little brothers to wash my feet, so I always feel good after a work day!" she heard Mei say.

Tuning them out, Natalia's thoughts drifted back to her own brother and the days before he avoided her like she was the plague. Memories drifted in front of her eyes, ready to be picked. She imagined herself sitting in front of a television, flicking channels through her past. She brought her two hands around her cup, and closed her eyes.

_Click_. Her brother held her hand, leading her out into a winter wonderland. Natalia, still small and bundled up, took one step off her front porch and landed face first in snow. Ivan laughed.

_Click_. For her sixth birthday, Ivan had given her a bracelet that he had taken from their sister. When Katya had begged for it back with tearful eyes, Natalia had surrendered the gift with great hesitation. The shining smile her sister awarded her had been no match for the heartbreaking frown her brother carried.

_Click_. Ivan got bigger and bigger, while Natalia was only barely able to keep up. Soon enough, during her teen years both her siblings turned out to be much taller than she. Ivan had always laughed at her height, patting her on the head. That was the reason she didn't like it when Elizaveta did it; that motion was reserved for Ivan and Ivan only.

_Click_. On his sixteenth birthday, he left. She still remembers _in full detail_ what he wore. She especially remembers the way his back looked, walking away from her. She did not cry, because she knew that he would be back.

_Click_. She herself ended up in Las Vegas, not too far away from where her brother was residing in Los Angeles. She even drove up to the city of fame once to go see him only to find that he had no intention of going back to Russia. They promised that when Natalia finished high school, they would go back together.

_Click_. On the day of their flight, Ivan never appeared. Natalia never went, either. She stayed at the airport two hours after the plane departed. Her brother never picked up his phone once.

_Click_. Natalia arrived at where she was now. Two years after she had graduated from high school, she was still trying to ship her brother back to Russia. She had promised her parents to come back when she was twenty-five, which gave her plenty of time to push some sense into him.

What was so great about America anyway? Natalia didn't find it to be that special. Sure, it was more freeing than Russia but Russia was their _home_. She never knew what was going on in her brother's mind; at one point she _thought_ she had, but obviously she was wrong. (Which only made her want to find out more.)

They weren't blood siblings, of course. Natalia even still had her real father's last name: Arlovskaya. Ivan was Ivan Braginsky, and he and Katya were _real_ siblings. It was times like this that she wondered if maybe, had Katya been the one to come to America, perhaps Ivan would have gone back to Russia like he had been supposed to. But no, that was something Natalia couldn't be bothered to think about. After all, Ivan had always treated her like his own sister. When they first met as toddlers, he had even took her hand and made her feel welcome. It was the warmest she had ever felt.

Natalia slowly opened her eyes, blinking to bring her vision back to normal when she realized that there was someone sitting across from her. Jumping a little in her seat, Natalia did not feel an intense amount of relief when she saw that it was only Mei.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning as her voice cracked. She took a sip of her now not so hot chocolate.

Mei shrugged, looking less exuberant than usual. "There aren't any customers, and you've been like this for the last ten minutes. I was watching you."

"Why were you watching me?" Natalia asked next, raising an eyebrow. Had she really been like that for ten minutes? It seemed like less. But then, she guessed that that was what memories did to people: they numbed them down until they were immersed in their own self, unable to feel the outside world move around them.

"I was watching you because you looked like you were remembering the day you died, like someone who was watching their own funeral." Mei said softly, looking Natalia straight in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, it was hard to hold her gaze steady. "Yes. No. On principle, yes. I am funded by my parents and have a great roommate and my life holds no boulders of hardship in the future."

"But?" Mei smiled, except there was none of her regular happiness in that smile.

"But right now I feel like I've done something wrong and I don't know what," Natalia replied just as quietly, lowering her eyes to her cup. "And I want so desperately to fix it."

The other girl put her hand out on the table, palm up and looked expectantly at Natalia. "Once, I didn't know where I was, where I was going, what I was even doing. At that time, someone held my hand and gave me a hug. I don't even see them anymore; they're halfway across the world but it's their fault that I'm always so loud now." She wiggled her fingers, "So let me try to be something other than that annoying cashier girl and let you hold my hand now."

Natalia stared at the hand, then at Mei's small smile. "I bet you refused the hand," she said simply.

Mei laughed. "How did you know?"

"We're alike in that aspect." Natalia's lips quirked upwards as Mei took her hand back. Finally letting go of her cup, Natalia pushed it away. "I must be going, I have someone to find."

"The guy you slept with?" Mei asked excitedly, her regular smile back immediately. Natalia paused to let this sink in for a moment. Was the girl she saw only moments ago a lie, or someone deep inside the cheery exterior of the Asian girl? Natalia shook her head.

"Not him. Someone _much_ more important." Natalia stood up, nodding to Mei. "Thanks for the drink."

Mei waved, grinning. "Next time you come, let's talk about this fiancée of yours."

Natalia only nodded curtly, putting on her coat as she walked out the door. She shivered once the wind seeped into her skin and shoved her hands in her pockets. Her bag thumped against her hip as she walked, and it was then that she made the plan.

No matter what, she would find her brother. If not to bring him back to Russia, then to tell him _something_. She didn't yet know what she wanted to tell him, but she imagined that once she met him face to face, the words would surface. Meanwhile, she would hold on to her memories and use them to get her further.

She only had so much time left before she was going to be tied down and never let go; she had to at least see her brother again. This time, she definitely would not leave it up to chance for whether they met or not.

Speedily, she walked through the crowds of people wearing too little for such cold weather. Soon it would snow, she knew. But it was never the same snow as the one from her childhood. The snow in America was never quite as deep as the one she first made snow angels with her brother in.

Natalia shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Before she could start reminiscing, she had to find him first. She would reminisce with the real person later.

A smile blossomed on her face. Maybe while she was doing this, she could also call Katya.

Her sister's curvy figure and high emotions popped into Natalia's head, wiping the smile off her face.

Maybe not.

o~

When she arrived at home, she wrote her paper fuelled only on her motivation to get it done. She didn't even remember half of the things she wrote down, all that she knew was that architecture was the least of her worries now. She needed money, she needed connections, and she needed a friend.

Natalia put down her pencil after finishing the last two sentences to ponder the last part of the equation. Elizaveta was her friend. They didn't say it much, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew that Elizaveta was her 'best friend'. If she had to put a picture next to the word "friend" in the dictionary, it would be one of a girl with a bright smile, large green eyes, and long brown hair that smelled like sunshine.

Her brain also included Mei, which was a surprise to Natalia. She had certainly never felt many emotions toward the Asian girl, but now that she thought about it she supposed that they were also friends of sorts.

But, Mei had a job and Elizaveta had university. Not to mention Elizaveta had a boyfriend and a mother in Las Vegas. Would she want to go driving around California to track down some mysterious relative of Elizaveta's? No, probably not.

Natalia walked across her room (well, she took the three steps from her desk to her bed) and flopped down on the bed, sighing. She seemed to have sighed a lot that day, she noticed. She wasn't exactly in great form.

Checking the time on her phone, Natalia threw her hands out and grabbed onto the edges of her bed. Elizaveta would be home in about two hours. All her life, Natalia had never wanted anything other than follow the footsteps that she was told would lead her to success.

She had never thought about romance, about acting on her own, about getting too comfortable in America.

But now, she felt blood course through her veins in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. There was something about adrenaline that made people feel young, fresh. For the first time in her life, Natalia wanted to go on an _adventure_.

Chuckling, she could only imagine Elizaveta's expression when she found out.


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n****:** flashback tiiiiime :

4.

The first time they met was in high school. Elizaveta was bright, cheerful, terribly popular and not very good at physics. Natalia was bad at English, unsociable, and had an unknown fanbase made up of the guys in the trumpet section of the school band. They had nothing in common save for the fact that they were both girls, had long hair, and hated their physics teacher.

In fact, the first time Elizaveta really noticed Natalia was an October day when the Russian girl had raised her hand politely, expressionless.

"May I go to the restroom?" Natalia asked.

The teacher, Mr. Oxenstierna, looked at her through a pair of spectacles that were supposed to be fashionable but only looked like a horrible practical joke. He was the only one in the school who had a thicker accent than Natalia. "I only h've two more ex'mples left, so c'n you wait?"

Natalia nodded, "Go ahead."

"Please." Mr. Oxenstierna said in response, stopping Natalia from sitting down.

"Are you telling me to go?" Tentatively, she asked him with a carefully stoic face.

Mr. Oxenstierna shook his head, chalk still in his hand. "Go ahe'd, please."

At this point, everyone in the class was just as bewildered as Natalia. She herself only blinked.

"You say 'Go ahe'd, _please_'." Mr. Oxenstierna explained when Natalia didn't move.

"Oh," Natalia cleared her throat. "Go ahead, please." She sat down as the teacher turned back to the board, staring down at her notes in utter confusion. Seconds later, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

When she turned around, Elizaveta smiled at her. "You're really interesting, you know."

Natalia stared at her. "How?"

"I always thought that you were keeping that emotionless face on purpose, to show some kind of 'cool beauty' image." Elizaveta shrugged as Natalia flinched slightly. "But now I realize that you just don't show many emotions, period."

"A lot of people tell me that I'm not expressive," nodded Natalia. "But I don't think that's very interesting."

Mr. Oxenstierna coughed loudly, making Natalia turn back around. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised, frowning. "What are you two t'lking about?"

"Nothing," Natalia said plainly. "Go ahead, please."

The entire class giggled, Natalia got detention, and Mr. Oxenstierna continued on with his lesson. Just as Natalia was about to curse Elizaveta for making her stay after school, Elizaveta raised her hand and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Oxenstierna! I would like to go to the Nurse's office."

Natalia rolled her eyes. What was the girl going to do now? Mr. Oxenstierna, thinking along the same lines, asked her, "What for, Eliz'veta?"

"Well I have a bit of a headache-" Elizaveta put a hand against her head, sighed, and shook her other hand in dismissal. "Nevermind. Go ahead, please."

The class erupted into laughter as Natalia turned around in surprise. Elizaveta winked at her. Mr. Oxenstierna turned red and told Elizaveta very clearly that she was to have double Natalia's time in detention.

After class as they both headed off to their last class of the day, Elizaveta waved at Natalia with the largest grin Natalia had ever seen. "See you in detention!" The girl had called out.

With no other choice, Natalia waved slightly back and tried to smile back. The most she could manage was widening her mouth to show all her teeth. "See you."

"You're hilarious," Elizaveta replied, for some reason laughing again.

Natalia turned around and went to her next class. What a strange girl.

o~

In detention, Mr. Oxenstierna left the class after a while to go print out more worksheets for the two of them to do. The second the door closed after him, Elizaveta got out of her seat and sprinted across the room to sit down at the desk beside Natalia's. Natalia stared at her for a moment before returning to her work.

"You're Natalia, right?" Elizaveta asked, smiling.

"Yes," Natalia said slowly. "And you are… Elizaveta?"

The other girl gave her another dazzling grin. "Or Liz, Lizzy, Veta, anything you like." Natalia nodded, eyes not leaving her worksheet once. She did not feel any affection for engaging in mindless chatter, something that Elizaveta seemed to love. This relationship would most likely not work out.

"You don't talk very much, do you?" Elizaveta asked her next, tilting her head, her bangs falling into her eyes. She sighed and pushed them away with her hand, still staring at her companion.

Natalia looked up from her work this time, frowning. "Must I?"

"Well, you don't have to, I suppose." Elizaveta laughed a little, "But it would be nice to fill the silence."

"This is detention," Natalia said very slowly. "I don't think we're supposed to fill the silence."

Elizaveta rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Come on, humour me. And you're much better at English than I thought."

"Then what do you propose we talk about?" Natalia put down her pencil then, raising an eyebrow. "And just because I'm an exchange student with an accent doesn't mean I don't know English. I've studied the language for just as long as you have."

"Oh, I'm sorry if you're offended." Looking genuinely apologetic, Elizaveta smiled gently. "I think it's really great that you were able to come here and learn this culture as well as your own." She leaned up to look up at the tiled ceiling, shrugging. "As for topics to talk about… I don't know, the weather? How you've been doing these days? Meaningless small talk, I guess."

"If you're going to talk about meaningless things, then why do you talk about it? Wasting words on things you don't care about is, quite frankly, very stupid." Natalia interjected, not thinking that what she was saying was rude. Stating the facts about something wasn't rude, it was just being clear.

"So am I stupid?" Elizaveta laughed, pointing at herself. Natalia looked at her. She was dressed in the latest fashion, her hair tied up in a messy ponytail. Her attitude towards life was clear, all sunshine and no meekness. She wasn't stupid, she was just an American teenager with very pretty green eyes.

"I think we are all very stupid," Natalia said evenly, looking back down at her paper. It was true, teenagers were all foolish and silly. They were no exceptions, not even herself.

Elizaveta laughed again, this time louder. "You tell me not to be stupid while telling me that everyone is stupid. See, you _are_ interesting! I've never met someone who thought about things like that." She fixed the watch on her wrist, smiling coyly. "Well, if it suits you, then we'll just sit here in silence." Secretly, Elizaveta was good at this game. She had played it for years with her cousin Roderich, another interesting person who didn't find any merit in small talk. Somehow, though, he always hated when she stopped talking on her own will.

Natalia was more patient than Roderich. Elizaveta stared at her watch for two minutes and thirty-four seconds until the silence broke.

Having cleared her throat, Natalia looked up somewhat sheepishly. "I think I can understand what you meant. This silence is unsettling."

"Isn't it?" Elizaveta smiled. "Come, let's talk some more before Mr. Oxenstierna comes back. There has to be something we have in common." She looked up at the classroom clock. "We can spend another hour finding one if we have to." When her classmate still kept that blank look on her face, she sighed. "List all of your likes for me?"

This was easy. Natalia leaned back in her chair, counting on her fingers. "I like my brother, mathematics, eating cake, and..." She frowned, looking around the room. "I like..." Her eyes finally settled on the walls around them. "I like this colour. White."

"Is that a complete list?" Elizaveta blinked.

Natalia thought for a while, and then nodded her head.

"Then, next is dislikes." Elizaveta leaned in, eyes shining. She really did find Natalia very interesting, if not because she simply had never interacted with someone so… frank before. Roderich was sometimes too stiff to say his own opinion, and all her other friends were too smart to say something mean unintentionally. It was almost refreshing to be insulted by accident.

"I dislike America, physics, the school band, Mr. Oxenstierna," Natalia frowned, "Well, pretty much most of the teachers in this school. I also dislike pineapples, the colour pink, shower curtains that don't match with the colour of the bathtub, and doors with faulty locks." She paused, then added, "This is not a complete list."

Elizaveta liked the colour pink, pineapples, and America very much. For the time being though, she just smiled. "You forgot about something, my dear classmate. Which category do I fall into?"

Natalia stared at her for a long time. Elizaveta was one of the popular kids that Natalia was supposed to hate on principle, and Natalia did not care for how nosy the other girl was. However, Elizaveta was also different than the other popular kids. She laughed genuinely, seemed to have some attitude in her, stood up for herself and had a really pretty smile. Natalia wasn't sure how she felt about Elizaveta, especially having only really known her for a few minutes. However, she knew that she didn't hate her. "I like you." Natalia finally said. "I think."

"Wonderful." Elizaveta, pleased, grinned. "I like you too."

Natalia nodded. They stayed in silence until Mr. Oxenstierna came back and ordered Elizaveta back across the room. Eventually, when Natalia's time came to leave, she stayed quietly at her desk and started working on other homework. When Mr. Oxenstierna finally let the two of them go, Elizaveta gave Natalia a high-five.

"You tell me that I'm a very interesting person, but I think it's you that's the interesting one," Natalia said as they walked to their lockers.

"Is that so?" Elizaveta asked, seeming amused.

"Yes, you are one of the strangest people I've ever met." Natalia replied, keeping a steady pace. She only turned her head when Elizaveta fell silent, and was surprised to see her staring intently at her.

Elizaveta stopped walking, waiting for Natalia to do so as well. When the both of them stood still, she smiled. "I would like to be your friend, Natalia. Is that alright?"

"Truthfully?" Natalia asked. Elizaveta nodded. "I don't think the outcome would change if I said yes or no." Natalia said, meaning every word. She imagined that no matter what she said, in the end the other girl would have her way and they would somehow end up as friends.

Elizaveta blinked, then broke out laughing. "You know me too well," she said in between gasps for air. "I'm so glad I met you, Natalia."

Natalia hummed and turned around to keep on walking. Not too soon after she heard hurried footsteps and then Elizaveta was right beside her again, still out of breath from laughing so hard.

"You know, one day I want to be an engineer." Elizaveta told her as they walked past the school gym. "Everyone tells me that I'm unsuited for it since I'm such a people person, but _I_ know that I suit it. Sure, going to a university without my friends might be kind of lonely, but it's what I want to do so I shouldn't care, right?"

"You should do what you think is right for your future," Natalia told her. She didn't quite understand why they were talking about it, but she knew what she had said was the answer that the other girl wanted to hear. It was also the only logical answer for Natalia.

Elizaveta nodded. "Thanks. I think I'll do just that." She tilted her head, "So what are you going to do in your future, then?"

"I am going back to Russia to marry my fiancée and help him run his father's business." Natalia replied quickly, having been asked the question many times. Instead of getting the usual 'oohs' and 'ahhs' the family relatives usually gave her, Elizaveta responded with a frown.

"Is that what _you_ want to do?" Elizaveta asked, an eyebrow raised.

Natalia shrugged, her eyes focused on the hallway in front of her. "It is not, but it is what I believe is the best for my future. My parents decided so."

Elizaveta fell into silence. They did not speak for the rest of the walk, eventually separating into different wings to their separate lockers. Natalia went home that day feeling strange, like something life changing had happened. She sure hoped it wasn't life changing. Her life was already very structured and planned out, and she would have liked to keep it that way.

The next day during lunch, Elizaveta dragged Natalia to her lunch table, at which she ate uncomfortably. The other girls at the table had been nice enough, but there was a strange sort of awkwardness to their conversations. Later, Natalia told Elizaveta that she didn't want to eat lunch with them anymore. The other girl made such an upset face that Natalia took it back.

They ate lunch together for the rest of their high school years. During their senior year, the only similar class they took was English Literature. During one period of that class, Elizaveta leaned over her desk and whispered, "Want to live with me after we graduate?"

Natalia listened to the teacher talk about some strange American book that she hadn't read yet and thought about her future. She wondered when she'd have to go back to Russia. She thought about university. She thought about Elizaveta, them being roommates, and how odd that would be.

"Only if you properly clean up after yourself," she finally whispered back ten minutes later.

Elizaveta reached over to grab Natalia's hand and gave it a squeeze before giving her hand back. Behind them, one of Elizaveta's annoying friends whistled and she gave him the finger. Two months later, the same annoying friend named Gilbert and Elizaveta started dating (much to Natalia's dismay and headache). Four months after that, Natalia and Elizaveta got the keys to an apartment complex only fifteen minutes by car to their university. Gilbert skipped school with them to help the two move boxes, but ended up sitting on the couch and eating cheetos while they did all the work.

At the end of the day, Elizaveta and Natalia looked around their apartment. The colour of the walls was too cheerful, there wasn't all that much space, the place smelled strongly of air freshener, and it was _theirs_.

They hugged, and that evening Elizaveta made Natalia promise that if one of them were ever to embark on an adventure, they would bring each other. Natalia agreed on the basis that she was sure that she would never go on any sort of adventure, save for maybe trying a new brand of milk.

It was strange, because for the first time in a long time, dressed in Elizaveta's old sweatpants, Natalia felt like she had a home.


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n:** apologies for not updating in so long, and more apologies for how slow this story is.

5.

"I'm home!" Elizaveta called out, and Natalia raced out of her room with a speed that barely ever graced her walk. "What's gotten into you?" Elizaveta laughed, seeing Natalia's rushed pace. "Are you hungry or something?"

"Elizaveta," Natalia said slowly, unable to stop a small smile from surfacing on her face, "I want to go on an adventure. Will you come with me?"

Elizaveta stared at her with eyes filled with excitement and breathlessness. "Let's get out of this city," she whispered, racing across the apartment to grab onto Natalia's hands. "I've been waiting for you to take action for _forever_."

Natalia drew them closer. "I want to find my brother."

"I'll go with you," Elizaveta replied, eyes still shining. "I've always wanted to go on an adventure with you."

Suddenly feeling hesitant, Natalia let go of her hands. "Wait, maybe we're going too fast. You have school, and your family, and Gilbert-"

Elizaveta shook her head quickly, her hair flying everywhere. "They can wait!" She grabbed onto Natalia's shoulders. "Do you realize, Natalia, that someday you're going to go back to Russia and that I'll never see you again? I don't know when this is going to happen, but I've been thinking recently… I want to make an _amazing_ memory with you. A memory that I'll always be able to relive after you leave me."

"You're the only best friend I've ever had," confessed Natalia.

"You're the only best friend I've ever loved like a sister," smiled Elizaveta. "I'm serious, you know. You're a big part of my life now. You're not just some person I find interesting, you're like a sister to me."

Natalia laughed, a small bubbling in her throat that she felt embarrassed at having let out. "I don't really have any plans on how to do this, but I do know that we have to get to Los Angeles."

Elizaveta grinned, suddenly getting a new light in her eyes. "But first, we have to do something else. While you're still in this spontaneous mood, I know where to go for dinner."

"Where?" Natalia blinked, feeling a little dread creep up in the back of her throat. "We're not going to some club, are we?"

"Oh good heavens no," Elizaveta laughed. "We're going to get waffles!"

Natalia stared. "Wait, waffles? No, no! What does that have to do with anything?"

Huffing, the Hungarian girl pinched Natalia's nose lightly. "It has to do with your secret lover that left you that coupon!"

"There is absolutely no reason as to why I need to go see him," Natalia frowned, rubbing her nose. What was the other girl going on about? Natalia wanted to locate her brother and amend past feelings, not meet a boy from a silly one night stand. She didn't have that kind of time on her hands, even if she was just the tiniest bit curious.

Elizaveta frowned back at her. "Well, think of it this way. You're already going to go chase after someone whose location you don't even know, so why not do some other crazy stuff on the way? It's not like you have anything to lose."

"He might not be working," Natalia said with a cringe, desperately trying to find an excuse.

"Oh darling, he will. I just know that he will." Elizaveta winked, walking away to open the fridge. "Now, champagne! We need champagne!"

"We don't even like champagne!" Natalia reminded her, sighing. Perhaps her streak of spontaneity was ruining her, because something about Elizaveta's enthusiasm was contagious. She supposed that it couldn't hurt to at least see what kind of person she had been with. "Put it back, I'm sure we'll find something equally celebratory and slightly less disgusting at the waffle house."

Elizaveta grinned like a child on Christmas morning. "I love this new attitude you have, Natalia. Will it be staying?"

"It might have been scared away after seeing that stupid grin of yours." Natalia rolled her eyes. "I'll go get my jacket."

"And the coupon, don't forget the coupon!" Elizaveta called after her as Natalia retreated back into the room. "Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait to tell Gilbert!"

"Gilbert's not coming with us!" Natalia yelled from her room.

Elizaveta pouted. "If you let me bring him, then you can also bring someone of your own!"

Natalia came back out, her jacket in one hand and the coupon in her hand. She raised an eyebrow, "Do you really think I have someone who just comes at my beck and call like your Gilbert?"

"You might by the end of tonight." Elizaveta replied with a wink, twirling her car keys in her hand. "I just had a thought. How do we find this guy, again?"

Natalia paused, thinking. It was true, it wasn't like they could just go up to every guy who worked there asking if he had slept with her or not. Then, a thought struck her.

"We'll have to stop somewhere first," Natalia said. "I have a… friend who knows him."

Elizaveta feigned shock. "Another friend? Natalia, I'm hurt. I thought that I was your one and only."

Natalia smiled slightly. "Don't worry, she's just an affair. You're the one my heart belongs to."

"Good," Elizaveta grinned as she pulled the other girl under her arm for a half-hug. "And it better stay that way."

They left their apartment like that, not forgetting to glare at all the other residents who thought they were drunk.

o~

Right before they parked in front of _Dreamsugar_, Natalia realized that her world was probably going to implode within the next few minutes. She had unconsciously promised herself to never let Mei and Elizaveta meet, and now she was about to _introduce_ them. Her eyes widening, she wondered what the hell she was doing.

Mei was a troublemaking little gossip. Elizaveta was nosy and pushy as hell.

_Oh god I'm doing a horrible thing_, Natalia panicked as Elizaveta parked somewhat haphazardly. "On second thought," Natalia said, "Let's call this whole thing off. I have a headache."

Elizaveta snorted, turned the car off, and got out. Just before she shut the door, she leaned down, smiled at Natalia, and said, "Go ahead, please."

Natalia was too busy worrying to appreciate the nostalgic moment. She took off her seatbelt hesitantly, taking as much time as she could. Perhaps Mei wouldn't be in. Perhaps everything would go okay and the two would never have to meet-

"Hurry up, princess!" Elizaveta knocked on the hood of the car, and Natalia got out reluctantly.

"Don't intimidate her," Natalia said worriedly as they entered the café, but it was already too late. Mei had seen them, and had a suspicious gleam in her eye. Natalia recognized it as the same one Elizaveta had.

Gliding up to the cashier, Elizaveta smiled. "Hi, I'm Natalia's roommate."

"Oh, I've heard about you!" Mei smiled back, clearly enjoying Natalia's agitation. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing, actually." Natalia butted in.

Elizaveta and Mei both looked at her dangerously. Natalia kept her mouth shut after that.

"Actually, we were planning to go to a certain waffle house." Elizaveta batted her eyelashes. "And Natalia here told me that you would be able to help locate the man of our interests?"

"I'd love to help you guys," Mei frowned, "But I've got another shift left."

Natalia sighed in relief.

Mei smiled again, "_However_, I can get my coworker to cover for me. Let's go get some waffles!"

Elizaveta grinned.

Natalia groaned. Somewhere inside of her, though, burned with excitement. Something new was beginning, and half of Natalia wanted to run back to her apartment and bury herself under the covers. The other half could barely wait.

"I want strawberry ones," Elizaveta thought out loud. "Do you think they'll have strawberry ones?"

"Don't embarrass me when we get there." Natalia replied.

Mei arrived, shrugging on her coat. She laughed, "Impossible, Natalia dear. Impossible."

"Don't worry though, we'll give you both some private time later!" Elizaveta winked.

It was true, Natalia really had brought together the worst pair in the world.

o~

_The Waffle Shack _was a modest little restaurant that sat on the corner of a relatively quiet street. Its outer appearance suggested cheap western food and without even looking inside, Natalia knew that it was a hive for old people. As Elizaveta parked a little too close to a blue Chevy, Mei grabbed onto Natalia's shoulder. Turning around in her seat, Natalia raised an eyebrow at Mei.

"He's a really good friend of mine," Mei smiled. "So don't be too harsh, okay?"

Natalia turned back around and undid her seatbelt. "I'm going to be my normal self."

Mei laughed, and Natalia noted down how different her laugh was compared to Elizaveta's. It was lighter, girlier, while Elizaveta's was more full of life and sunshine.

They all got out of the car together, two of them eager and one ridden with nerves. Natalia wanted desperately to be cool, to calm down and not care about it, but it wasn't so much the guy she was worrying about anymore. More, she worried about what would happen _after_ they met. The best situation would be that he would take their order, and that would be the end of their relationship.

However, she had made the absolutely stupid decision of bringing both Elizaveta and Mei with her. Which only meant that nothing normal could possibly happen.

"Are you ready?" Elizaveta asked, hooking her arm through Natalia's.

"Definitely not," Natalia replied as Mei led them into the restaurant, and they all took a pause to breathe in the fresh smell of waffles. This was what was so strange about America, Natalia thought as she scanned the restaurant. It was seven in the evening and there were seniors sitting in a restaurant, eating _waffles_. It was baffling.

Mei looked around, the hostess not being there. Soon though, she caught sight of someone in the back of the restaurant and rushed towards them, motioning for Elizaveta and Natalia to stay put. The two looked at each other and shrugged.

After waiting for what seemed like ten minutes but in reality was only three, Mei reappeared around the corner holding someone's hand. Natalia's eyes trailed up from that pale hand to a laughably plain black and white uniform to a pair of shockingly blue eyes behind two round spectacles.

"This is Alfred," Mei grinned as she let go of his hand to point at Natalia. "And this is Natalia. Remember anything yet?"

Natalia stared at Alfred, who was quite a bit taller than her. He grinned down at her sheepishly. "Hey," he said. Elizaveta took this opportunity to slip her arm out from Natalia's and elbow her in the ribs.

"Say something," Elizaveta whispered, seeming to be enjoying herself far too much.

"Uh," Natalia said. "Are you the man who put a waffle coupon in my underwear?"

Alfred's cheeks turned pink. "Well, yeah. Is that bad?"

"Yes," Natalia said, "Because you are _clearly underage_." And it was true. Natalia's blood ran cold as she took in his teenage acne, his awkward way of standing, and teeth so perfect they just had to have come straight out of braces. "I sincerely hope we did not sleep together."

Elizaveta howled as Mei slapped Alfred's arm. "I told you that she would realize it!" Mei reprimanded, not sounding that mad. "Natalia's very sharp, you know."

Alfred looked at her with a look that reminded Natalia of the puppies Elizaveta always showed her pictures of. "I'm eighteen, though! And like, you didn't really seem to mind the first time we met when we-"

"Wait," Natalia interrupted, frowning. "I don't want everyone here to hear about what did or didn't happen that night. Come outside with me." Alfred gave her a hopeful grin. Natalia glared at him. "To _talk_."

Elizaveta continued laughing, and even Mei smiled. "Have fun!" She cooed, wiggling her fingers in the air. "Come back when you've got everything straightened out, lovebirds!"

Natalia didn't answer, storming straight out of the restaurant. What had she _done_? She had slept with a kid, and not even a-well, alright, he was slightly attractive, she would grant him that. But that still didn't change the fact that she had done something completely unacceptable. And Mei! How could she have let them meet, knowing that Alfred was eighteen? Her head spun as she sat down on the front steps of the restaurant, sighing.

"I'm guessing you don't remember anything." Alfred said as he sat down next to her. Natalia nodded, still not looking at him. What if her parents ever found out? It would be the end of everything. "Well," he continued, "There really isn't much to remember. Do you at least recall going to a bar?"

Natalia frowned, closing her eyes. She tried to remember that night, and only came up with a flashing neon sign. "The Rabbithole?"

"My uncle owns that bar." Alfred grinned, snapping his fingers. "He lets me hang out there sometimes, and that's where you found me. And the rest… well, it kind of happened really quick. Like, so quick. I mean, you weren't my first but I was surprised at how fast it ended-"

"Alfred," Natalia groaned, "I really don't want to hear about that."

Alfred made a funny sound in his throat, something between a laugh and a groan. "Okay okay, TMI. Got it. Well, you brought me back to your apartment, and after well, we did _that_, you made me watch you drink until three in the morning, when you finally passed out."

Natalia put her head in her hands, shaking it. "And then you thought it would be funny to buy me flowers and put a waffle house coupon in my underwear?"

"I thought it would be romantic!" Alfred protested, his hands moving around to try and illustrate what he meant by 'romantic'. "Like in those movies! Except instead of a business card, I only had that coupon so I tucked that into your underwear. And every girl likes roses, so I thought why not? I bought them for you as we were leaving for your apartment from this guy on the corner."

Natalia snorted.

"What?" Alfred asked, eyes wide. "Were they full of drugs?"

"No," Natalia laughed a little, turning to shake her head at him this time. "Those were carnations, Alfred. Red carnations, not roses."

Alfred blinked. "Oh."

Natalia wrung her hands in her lap, frowning. He was so innocent, it was strange having to deal with him. "I have a fiancée in Russia," she said as gently as she could. "And so I'm going to ask you to forget what just happened."

"But you haven't even spoken to him once!" Alfred suddenly yelled, making Natalia's eyes widen. "You told me that while you were drunk. You said that you had never even met the guy, and you were only marrying him because your parents told you to! That's not right, Natalia!" He grabbed her hands, but she shook them away. "I'm right here, Natalia. I'm here for you now and I really can be a real romantic!"

Natalia cracked a smiled, surprising even herself. "Alfred, that's my future. Right now, I don't even know if it's going to happen, but I do know that of everything that can and might happen, you're not a part of it."

"Am I ugly?" Alfred asked, his face dropping. "Too young?"

"Too young," Natalia confirmed. "And way too talkative."

Alfred stayed silent for a while. Then, "Can we have sex again, then? Like I said, it really was super fast and I just-"

"_Alfred_."

"Too young, got it." Grinning at her, he stood up. "Damn, and I thought that I'd finally get to date an older woman!"

Natalia let herself smile a little again. "I'm sure you'll have the chance again sometime soon."

Alfred lit up. "Really? Like maybe with that girl in there with the long brown hair? Man, she's real pretty-"

Natalia glared at him, smile wiped off her face. Alfred laughed as Natalia sighed, "If you're done being immature, I'm going back in now." Standing up as well, she started to walk for the entrance. Had he been years older, the result would have still been the same. Right now, she didn't need any boy in her life, especially not one of the Alfred variety.

"Natalia," Alfred called out from the bottom of the stairs, "I wasn't kidding though." Natalia turned around. "I mean, like the whole fiancée thing. You should do what you want to do, not what your parents want you to do."

She opened her mouth to tell him _I've said this to many people before. What my parents want for me is what I want for myself_ but the words stuck in her throat as she saw his earnest expression. She remembered her promise with Elizaveta, the promise they had made as best friends, and she remembered Ivan. Natalia couldn't say anything. She felt that if Elizaveta's laugh could bring sunshine, then Alfred's earnestness could move oceans and split the sky. Still feeling numb, Natalia nodded once.

Alfred smiled at her.


End file.
